How To Grow a Fruit Tree and Prevent Small Fruits

One such technique is what veterans call “fruit thinning” done during the early stages of fruits growing from trees. The less fruits to pay attention to, the more nutrients are sent efficiently to the leftover fruits. If there are hundreds of fruits in a tree, these fruits then compete for the available materials necessary for growth and the result is hundreds of stunted fruits. Pick a third of the fruits very early on in the process and expect to see larger fruits that season. Another key in producing quality fruits is spacing. Fruits should not be too close to each other; keep them at least 6 to 8 inches apart. Don’t keep the fruits crowded as this can result to smaller fruits. Keep this technique in mind during the fruit thinning process so you can help optimize the nutrition each fruit gets. This goes to show that it isn’t always good to have tons of fruits starting to grow. This is something most tree growers overlook; so don’t make the same mistake. Unfortunately, there are just some things that are out of the gardener’s control. Cool weather can deter the growth of fruits especially during the process of cell division, and weather is something that we just can’t do anything about. Also, when it’s cloudy very early in the season, carbohydrates are less available to your plants. The fruits will drop to the ground even before they ripen if the factors are all against the well-being of your tree. Luckily, this rarely occurs. Excessive pests and diseases, and lack of water or certain nutrients can also deter the growth of fruits. You should do more thinning if you notice these occurring early in the season. Sometimes you have to sacrifice three-fourths of the fruits to provide maximum nourishment to those that remain.

You can always experiment so you’ll find out how to achieve larger fruit sizes. This won't cause the tree to die or stop producing fruit, especially if your tree has been around for a while. What you can do is to try different thinning techniques to make the fruits larger.

You can also go to your local nursery and ask the people there for suggestions. Tell them about your specific tree and your area so they could give specific advice that will more likely work. Early on, help yourself and your tree produce larger fruits. When harvest time comes, you may not have an oversupply of fruits, but at least you are sure that the ones you do have are plump and delicious.